“In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my all in all,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.’
In Christ Alone, Stuart Townsend
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.”
Psalm 62:5-8:
Oh, the gift of love and righteousness in Christ.
I remember when I was a child – eight or nine years old – and at night I would pray for two things. Every night I would pray that my parents would live forever and that I would grow up to be a millionaire.
Earnestly I prayed – and diligently – night after night.
But those were the prayers of a child.
And for many of us these are also the kind of prayers we tend to pray when we first come to Christ.
Prayers influenced more by our carnality than anything else – our fears and our insecurities drive our earliest prayers as we seek to just ‘fill the need’ – but this should change over time.
The more we set our eyes on Jesus and grow in our understanding of Him the more things like money and immortality start to lose their value.
When we start to see Jesus for who He is we realize that there is nothing that compares to Him. No amount of money, no amount of success, esteem or anything else that we could try and fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts with will ever be enough.
All these things are meaningless. I am grateful to have learned this lesson early in my life – for there are many who chase the things of this world well into old age. There are many who are old and frail but still praying the prayers of a child… And not childlike prayers of faith, but childish prayers based in fear, insecurity and self-seeking.
I don’t need to be a millionaire – there are things that are way more important than wealth.
I understand now that this life is just a passing thing – and that we will indeed live forever – if we are in Christ!
When we start seeing Jesus for who He is we will find ourselves gravitating towards prayer and worship – not to ask from but to give unto the Lord – our love, our praise and our adoration!
Having been a drug addict, having survived the life associated with it – guns and overdoses, incarceration and insanity – I know that I have much to be grateful for. Nothing compares to knowing Jesus.
And we all had a rock bottom from which Christ had to stoop down and save us…
Oh the Love of Jesus poured out upon that lonely cross for me!
How can we not love Him!
John Calvin said the following: Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection.
Christ is the All-Sufficient One!
In Him we have the hope of heaven. The realization that all of our troubles and all our trials only persist for a little while before giving way to glory.
In Him our every need is satisfied. If we walk in His will for our lives – in faith and obedience – we will never be disappointed.
Prayer: Lord, today I thank you for pulling me out of the miry clay of my past. You are my foundation, my cornerstone – my hope, my refuge, my now and forever. Help me Lord to grow in my understanding of You, so that my prayers can be childlike rather than childish. Oh Lord, if I have one request today let it be for more of You in my life. Always more of You. Open the eyes of my heart and help me see You rightly, as You are – let everything in my life give way to Your glory. I give You the highest place in my life today Lord. Be enthroned in every situation, in all of my circumstances. Let me be hidden in the Rock of my Salvation – tucked away safely in Your embrace.. In the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.